Long as it’s grown in the proverbial tooth, and
lagging in the consumer marketplace, the Giulietta has found another lease on
life on the race track. It was converted to competition spec for the British
Touring Car Championship earlier this year, and has been racing in the Italian
TCR series. But now it’s headed for the big leagues.
That’d be the FIA World Touring Car Cup (abbreviated
as WTCR), as the previous World Touring Car Championship has been rebranded
following its adoption of the cost-conscious, closely production-based TCR
format. The cars are being prepared by Italian tuner Romeo Ferraris – which
prepared the version pictured here for the Italian series – and will be fielded
by Team Mulsanne (of no Bentley associated whatsoever beyond the name).
Team Mulsanne has tapped the talents of
one Fabrizio Gionavardi. At 51 years old, the highly accomplished touring-car
driver has won the BTCC twice for Vauxhall and Triple Eight Racing (in 2007 and
’08), and twice won the European Touring Car Championship that preceded the
WTCC and new WTCR in an Alfa, no less.
His teammate in the second car has yet to be announced.
However both former F1 driver (and seasoned touring-car veteran) Gianni
Morbidelli and American pilot Kevin Gleason (who drove for Lada in the WTCC
last season and a Civic in the previous TCR International Series before that)
also test-drove the Alfa alongside Gionavardi earlier this month at Monza.
